Haven't checked in for a while - probably because I was going in the wrong direction...was down to 204 but got back up to 215 around the first of the year...weighed myself yesterday and was down to 207...doing nothing but watching what I eat...a little bit of riding...a lot of walking...feel ready to make a big push this summer to reach 185-190...Right now I really want to get under 200...haven't seen that in over 10 years...still, looking back i find it hard to believe I was up to 250 just 3 years ago...I think I'm more amazed I put that kind of weight on

05-09-07, 12:39 AM

jrn

Hey guys I'm new here :) Anyway I'm 5'8" and a month ago was 210 and now I'm down to 190. I started riding 15-40 minutes a day with a 2 hr ride once a week or so. I cut out most alcohol, eat fruit and vegetables daily, and eat lean cuisine/weight watcher type meals for dinner every night. It's good to hear all of your success stories and I'll keep ya'll updated with my progress!

05-10-07, 10:08 AM

smarley

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and I have to say thanks to all for their inspirational stories and support.

I am a 44 years old, 6'-0" and have been racing and training on bicycles for most of my life. That is until I got lazy a few years back and cut out the racing and way back on the training routine (isn't it fun being lazy!).

I have never eaten poorly and both my wife and I are mostly vegetarians (easier to prepare, less expensive than meat and it tastes good). In my lazyness, I have managed to put on ~20 lbs over my ideal weight of 163-65. I am now back on the bike commuting to work each day (16 miles each way) and I do a ~30 mile ride on saturday or sunday. I have only been at this for a few weeks and I have not seen any weight loss. My wife says that I am too impatient and that building muscle mass will offset the drop in fat mass. I know that she is right. I just want to get back to where I was quickly!

The question that I have is associated with hunger. What foods do all of you eat throughout the day that keep you from being hungry? I find that my 2000 calorie per day regimen seems reasonable but that I am hungry at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Are there foods that keep this hunger away better than others?

Thanks again,

Steffan

05-10-07, 12:04 PM

Guitarman33

Steffan,

Those are times i find the hardest as well, i eat three equally sized meals throughout the day and the budget for two snacks at the times you've asked about. I usually have an apple or bannana or some carrots and a glass of water and find the additional water helps me to feel full and munching the other snacks satiates my need to "chew" on something. This works for me and i used to be a full-fledged junk food/soda snacker. Take care.

Mike

05-14-07, 09:12 AM

katie

I haven't checked in in awhile and have completely stalled out, maybe even regained a bit. I'm riding a LOT but don't have the discipline to stick to the diet changes. Discouraged. My body feels better when I eat properly and I KNOW this even though it's hard to put in practice sometimes. Today I'm going to start tracking the rides and meals on Fitday.com again, after about a 3-week break, to make sure I'm getting the right calorie deficit. Counting calories works for me and again, I know this ... just have to put it in practice.

05-14-07, 11:20 AM

pityr

still struggling with the last 10-15#s :(

I bottomed out at 192 last august but Im back up to 202. I really want to hit 190 or 185 by mid summer but its coming off so slowly now.

Im riding 100-150 miles a week and I am ALWAYS hungry. The desk job isn't helping either. I am trying a fiber supplement to curb the cravings and it seems to work a little. I have tried hoodia and it didn't do anything. I had used green tea when I was first starting out and it worked well but it seems to have lost its effectiveness.

Thats all down from 270 in Dec '05.

05-14-07, 11:15 PM

Guitarman33

Katie and Pityr,

I'm stuck too at 246 down from 260lbs. - lets all motivate one another to break through!!! You rock and you will accomplish everything you set out to do!

Mike

05-15-07, 09:34 AM

Ginny

I've got a family reunion coming up in mid July. What a motivator!
I was a steady 163-165 (still way over my ideal weight, I'm only 5'3 and medium framed). I bought a tanning salon in Feb. I also own a bar. When I was working the bar I was upright, moving and burning the calories I ate so I maintained weight. The salon is me sitting in a chair for 9 hours surfing the net and cleaning tanning beds. No more walking 3 miles a day just at work.
In the last 3.5 months I've gained 12 pounds! All in the belly fat area that women tend to gain when they hit 40.
So, I've been riding 30 minutes a day in the morning before breakfast then eating small meals during the day. A total of about 1600 calories per day. Nothing after 8, and 80 oz of water.
I'm also doing the hoodia thing and it has helped me a bit. I love the jittery feeling it gives.
I'm down 4 pounds in the last week. Prolly too much, but it's a great way to help me keep at it.

The one thing for me to remember is that as I lose weight, I also have to cut more calories. If I need 1700 calories to maintain 170 pounds, then I will only need 1600 to maintain 160 pounds. 1500 when I get to 150 and so on. I think that's why people platuea when dieting. They forget to cut more calories as they get thinner. Right now I'm at 1600 calories a day, 400 burned on my bike. I'm 'allowed' to have 2050 if I wanted to maintain my current weight (174) so the 1200 I end up with gives me a defeacit of 850 per day.
I refuse to eat celery and carrots. Carrots have too many carbs and taste like carrots.
I eat a banana (also too many carbs but the best way to replace potassium after a ride) and peach yogurt for breakfast with a multi vitamin. I have protein (usually 4-5 ounces of chicken) and some sugar free jello for lunch. I have strawberries or watermelon or a peanut butter spoon (scoop of peanut butter that I slowly devour) for an afternoon snack. I drink skim milk sometime during the day (i love milk) and drink Crystal Light lemonade all day. I double the water so it's not so sweet.
If I absolutely NEED sugar, I eat a ONE SMALL SCOOP of vanilla ice cream as a treat. I've learned to eat ice cream really slowly. If I can make one scoop last 7-10 minutes, I'm satisfied. And I don't feel like I have to deprive myself of things I really love, but I don't go overboard and eat a whole half gallon like I've done in the past when trying to diet.
My husband is a legs and butt man. After 14 years of marriage, I just found this out. I want to have a nice butt and slender legs so when he looks at me, he smiles. It'll be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I want to be a size 8. Dont care what the scale says, just what size non-stretch jeans I can slip on and button easily. I'm a 12 now.
I've made a deal with myself.
For every 5 pounds I lose AND keep off for a week I'll buy myself a new jersey. I live in bike jerseys.
I want a few that are $80-90 and can't justify buying them for my fat body. So I'll be buying all the new jerseys in a size M. When I reach a size 8 I'll fit into them perfectly. It's better than rewarding myself with food.

Good luck to all. It's hard to lose weight and keep it off. It's hard to go from eating anything we want and getting bigger to realizing that we need to be smaller, healthier and eat better and less. It's right up there with quitting smoking. We can only do so much in one day. If we fall off the wagon, we need to brush off the crumbs, climb back on and do better tomorrow.
Good luck to us all.

05-21-07, 04:01 PM

Ginny

As of today, May 21 (from May 12)
I'm down 5.5 pounds and 9 inches.
yay me.

05-22-07, 10:19 AM

Guitarman33

Ginny in Denver,

You Rock!!! You are keeping me fired up, thank you for sharing your success!!!

Mike

05-22-07, 12:39 PM

pityr

201 as of this morning. Got a business trip at the end of the week an I'm hoping to not gain the # back :( Airport food isn't all that great for ya...

05-25-07, 09:21 PM

aham23

just a little update slash motivation for everyone.

calorie counting and an obsession for cycling helped me drop 60 pounds in 2006. Now I run 10 to 15 miles a week and bike 75 to 150 a week. i am still smart about what i eat, but have much more freedom these days.

it can happen for you too. there is no magic formula. hHard work is the key. good luck all!!

later.

05-27-07, 05:40 AM

phatmonkey

As of this morning, I am down 29 pounds. I have been working out, biking and watching what I eat. I started weighing in about 6 weeks ago.

I feel like a different person. (But I still have a long way to go. I'm still 244 lbs and 5' 10".)

05-27-07, 10:20 PM

Ginny

Down another pound.5 this week (7.5 total), though wishing it were more (looking for 3 per week).
No real inch loss I could find.
Need to up my daily training ride by 15 minutes, I think.
I rode for 1.5 hours today and will again tomorrow to jump start this week.

05-29-07, 09:27 PM

zbikem

First post for me after lurking for about a week. And might I add you guys are such a HUGE motivation! I'm a soon to be 22 year old grad student. I'm 5'10 and just weighed in on my brand spankin' new Tanita at a hefty 180 lbs. I'm looking to get down to 160 over the course of the year. I'll be a groomsman in a wedding coming up in early July so I'll gladly take any weight loss before then, but reading these posts, I'm not expecting much in the first few weeks -- any loss/shape change that happens will be bonus!

I'm overweight thanks to years of hardly any activity other than running off to class and the odd pickup game of frisbee once a week. Oh and of course 2 non-diet soda's a day and eating out (hence mainly junk food) every day for the last 5 years, didn't particularly help. Over the last few weeks I've made the transition to home prepared meals. I've been off soda for 2 weeks now and am drinking plenty of water. I got a used 2005 Bianchi boardwalk a couple of months ago and have started putting some miles on it. I've put in ~15 miles/day for the last three days and hope to continue a regimen of 15-25 miles/day, 6 days/week (we're blessed with many trails here in beautiful Madison, WI). On the rest day I plan to continue with good ol' ultimate.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

05-29-07, 09:58 PM

jrn

Good to hear from the new members and others with the ongoing success. Despite a two week visit from the in laws that included alcohol every day and no healthy food, I'm now down to 185 from 190 three weeks ago (thanks to framing a house almost every day). I'm really motivated now to push to 175 in the next few weeks, I'll keep ya'll posted!

05-30-07, 06:03 AM

milani

Back again this year... Got down to 178 last year.... Back up to 205.....Ugh.....

05-31-07, 10:02 AM

pityr

200.2 . hope to be under 200 by the beginning of next week :)

05-31-07, 02:16 PM

HardyWeinberg

I have no precise idea what I weigh right now. 17 days ago, morning after 50 mile bike ride, 151.5 (that's a multi-decade low), yesterday, after 2 wks of travel with scant biking, several days each of conference food, and then down home southern comfort food, 165. This morning, after jog, 159. I don't care about the error, or intraday distribution, in weight estimates, but I'd like the 'correct' value to top out around 155, which would be down an even 40# from 195 Labor Day 2006. I'm ~5'8".

06-01-07, 09:47 AM

lechwe

Last time I checked in I was down to about 200. I've only lost a little more since then, down to just under 196 this morning. However, I have been changing. I had taken my belts in a while back and cut 2 1/2" of them. I am now on the last hole again and need to shorten them again. I was wearing 36 pants slightly tight and have had to change to 34's that are slightly loose. I am feeling great but still have about 10 more to drop.

Good luck all

06-01-07, 12:32 PM

Team853

It pains me to say it, but I'm back. First posted on here two years ago, with a goal of going from 213 to 170. I made it to 173 and found I was happy with that. Kept my weight in the 175-180 range until about January of this year. Then things started to go down hill. Tipping the scales at 193 right now, but I'm determined to get back to about 175 by late summer. The big key will be regaining the discipline to eat well. At 213 I was so embarrassed that it was easy to force myself to eat right. As you can see below, it worked:

But now I'm in this precarious spot where whenever I lose a few pounds I slip into that "aw, that's good enough" phase and let myself off the hook. I'm enough overweight that I know I need to drop about 20 pounds, but not to the point where I can't live with myself. I'm hoping that making this a public battle and committing on here to dropping the weight will force me to stick to my guns. Hold me to it!

June 1, 2007 --> 193 lbs.

Target --> 173 lbs. by September 2, 2007.

06-01-07, 01:02 PM

zbikem

Quote:

Originally Posted by lechwe

Last time I checked in I was down to about 200. I've only lost a little more since then, down to just under 196 this morning. However, I have been changing. I had taken my belts in a while back and cut 2 1/2" of them. I am now on the last hole again and need to shorten them again. I was wearing 36 pants slightly tight and have had to change to 34's that are slightly loose. I am feeling great but still have about 10 more to drop.

Good luck all

I sense another Southern African on the forum. Lechwe -- are you from Zambia? I am Zimbabwean. My family lived in Kitwe for 2 years (1994-1996) and I attended Lechwe School.

06-02-07, 01:21 PM

rkimble

Newbie to the forum and biking. After several years of being in great shape left the Army and started college. Needless to say I went from 175 to 235 in three years time. I started riding the bike this week at the gym and I've knocked out 50 miles in 10 mile increments. I find biking to be alot easier on me right now because of my weight I'm only 5'8"

Pluse I have a 230 mile bike ride in September I have to get in shape for. I have loved reading the post in this forum they are very motivating.

Thanks! I'll keep you posted.

06-02-07, 06:59 PM

Ginny

Ginny, Checkin In!

So far, down 9 pounds and 11 inches Since May 8.
Feelin good!

06-02-07, 10:41 PM

Scooterpilot

I'm in my early 50's and about 30lbs over wieight. I decided to establish a serious routine and stay with it until the weight is gone. April 1st was my start date and I've lost 10lbs.

Now I ride 4 times a weeks: one day is a long day (3hrs) at a relaxing pace and the other days are for hills, interval training one is against the clock. The other 3 days a week I lift weights and do a 5k run after lifting.

My diet requires that I eat eight times a day (small meals of course). I take in about 200 grams of protien, 100 grams of carbs and no more than 20 grams of fat each day. (The only exception is the day that I ride 3 hrs....I have a couple of carb bars for the ride). I make each meal with fresh veggies, fruits, and don't eat any red meat. Fresh fish, canned tuna, and boneless/skinless chicken breast are the meats I eat.